Trends with Dr Myk: "Don't get caught in the rain"

Don’t get caught in the rain

Weather has been the most Googled term this month. At first glance, that seems entirely unsurprising. Weather affects all of us, doesn't it? Well, maybe not in quite the way we think.

Checking the weather forecast is simply part of most of our daily routine. Living in Auckland, it's almost a survival skill. Auckland has long held the reputation of experiencing four seasons in one day. What jacket should I wear tomorrow? Do I need an umbrella? Will my shoes survive the day? These are normal questions. In my twenties and thirties, I rode a motorbike almost everywhere. For a motorcyclist, weather matters even more. No one enjoys arriving at work soaked, cold, and uncomfortable because they ignored the forecast.

Then I spent time teaching in Bangalore, India. Like any good Aucklander, I turned on the evening news to check tomorrow’s weather. Thirty degrees and fine. The next night? Thirty degrees and fine. The following night? Thirty degrees and fine. After a few days, I stopped watching. There was simply no point. Fine for the next six months, wet after that. More importantly, nobody around me looked at a forecast. It wasn't part of their daily routine because it didn't need to be.

That was when something clicked.

Weather reports are cultural artefacts. Of course, weather itself is a scientific reality. But whether we talk about it, search for it, organise our lives around it, or watch forecasts every night depends heavily on culture, geography, and environment. What feels normal, necessary, and obvious in one place may seem completely unnecessary somewhere else.

That observation led me to a bigger question: What else do we mistake for universal reality when it is actually a cultural practice? What routines do we take for granted? What assumptions feel ‘natural’ simply because they belong to our place and moment in history?

I’m currently teaching a large church group biblical interpretation, and the same principle applies. Consider Paul's instruction, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man” (1 Timothy 2:12). At first glance, this can appear to be a universal prohibition on women teaching or having authority in any context. Yet scholars note that the unusual Greek term authentein, translated “assume authority,” is rare and refers to a particular kind of domineering, self-appointed, and illegitimate exercise of authority. The situation in Ephesus also involved issues of false teaching and the need for proper instruction. In a context where many women had limited educational opportunities, Paul’s concern addressed a specific local problem rather than establishing a timeless ban on all women teaching.

Attempting to apply the passage by focusing exclusively on prohibitions against women teaching risks missing Paul’s deeper concern. The enduring principle is not the exclusion of women from ministry. Rather, it is that Christian teaching should be exercised faithfully, competently, and under appropriate authority so that the church is protected from error and built up in truth. The circumstances Paul addressed in Ephesus were the cultural expression of a deeper reality. The principle remains constant, but the way it is expressed will inevitably vary from one culture to another. The science remains constant; the cultural expression changes.

Whether we’re reading weather reports or reading Scripture, wisdom often requires us to distinguish between the underlying reality and the cultural form it takes. Next time the weather report comes on the TV or radio, pause and reflect. Don’t mistake a cultural artefact for a universal fact. Sometimes the most important lesson is learning to ask: What is the principle here, and what is merely its local expression?